White sticks strictly to the music of clarinetist Artie Shaw, barely mentioning his flamboyant personal life. He opens the book with a history of the Swing Era and its practitioners and follows Shaw’s career through his big bands, small groups, forays into classical music, and his sabbaticals from the business of music. Each chapter is followed by copious notes, and included is a chapter on recommended recordings.

John White is Reader Emeritus in American History at the University of Hull and lives in Manchester. He has taught at several American universities. He has received several Fulbright Awards and won the Arthur Miller American Studies Prize in 1992 for his essay “Kansas City, Pendergast, and All That Jazz.”